High School Football: Vero Beach's Road to No. 1 in 1981: Game 4

A weekly look at Vero Beach's run to the Class 4A state championship in 1981

GAME 4: MIAMI NORTHWESTERN

OCT. 2, 1981 / VERO BEACH

Final score: Vero Beach 15, Miami Northwestern 6

Capsule: Vero Beach scored nine points within a 28-second span early in the fourth quarter to break a 6-all tie and shock previously undefeated Miami Northwestern.

Key plays: With the game tied at 6, Vero Beach's Brian Connolly blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety. One play after Northwestern's free kick to the 50, Vero Beach's Anthony Simmons slipped past a blitzing Northwestern linebacker and ran 50 yards for a touchdown with 10:21 to play. Robin Yencho's extra point kick closed the scoring. Rich Cunningham had the Indians' first TD with a 1-yard run with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.

Stats that matter: Northwestern drove 78 yards in 10 plays to open the game, capped by quarterback Anthony Dawkins' 24-yard touchdown run, but did not score again ... Evans finished with 106 rushing yards on 33 attempts, a 3.2-yard average, while Dawkins was 11-of-19 passing for 120 yards ... Simmons had a game-high 69 yards on eight carries for Vero Beach while Cunningham had 58 yards on 13 runs. ... Vero Beach QB Todd Fennell was 6-of-10 for 89 yards ... Both teams had two turnovers apiece.

Sound bite: "I thought it was a team effort. You can't single out anyone because they all played well." — Vero Beach coach Billy Livings

Etc.: Vero Beach missed a earlier chance to tie the game, taking the second-half kickoff and driving to the Bulls' 28 before coming up inches short on fourth down ... Yencho's first extra-point try was blocked for his first miss of the season ... Connolly's blocked punt was set up when Northwestern lost 10 yards on a penalty and eventually faced fourth-and-23 from the 7-yard line. Dwight Neely returned the ensuing free kick to the 50 to set up Simmons' TD run.

Did you know? Northwestern had beaten Carol City 14-7, Miami American 21-16 and Miami Central 14-0 in its first three games before being outscored 15-0 in the second half by Vero Beach.